


The Darkeyes and the Queen

by Stingythefish



Category: Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: F/F, Urithiru, finally giving jasnah the ship she deserves, jasnah is a gay disaster, kaladin is suffering, oathbringer spoilers kinda, shallan ultimate wingman, takes place after oathbringer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24864247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stingythefish/pseuds/Stingythefish
Summary: Jasnah Kholin, Queen of Alethkar, now finds herself responsible for an entire nation, while trying to juggle an ongoing battle with Odium himself. But she's about to face her greatest trial yet--Hesinah, a beautiful darkeyed woman who has the strange ability to make Jasnah go weak in the knees whenever she makes eye contact with her. Jasnah can't deny the way she feels when she speaks with Hesinah...but how can she live with them, knowing that Hesinah is not only Kaladin's mother, but married?aka Jasnah is a gay disaster: the fic
Relationships: Jasnah Kholin/Hesinah
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	The Darkeyes and the Queen

The first time Jasnah saw Hesina she found herself, for the first time in a very long time, speechless. Oh, Jasnah had seen plenty of beautiful women before, but there was something about the housewife, something about her content yet confident smile, that twinkle in her eyes, that just  _ struck _ the Alethi Queen.

Captain Kaladin had brought his family back from their hometown of Hearthstone soon after the battle at Thaylen Field, and though both he and Jasnah had not wanted to interact, Dalinar had insisted that the new Queen of Alethkar see the common people. Jasnah had to admit that relations between ruler and commonfolk were important, but not when it came to Captain Kaladin’s family. The grouchy young man was simply insufferable, and she had no desire to find out just how insufferable his parents were.

And yet, she found herself starstruck at the sight of his mother, and the feeling had only worsened once Hesina had spoken with Jasnah.

Heart still pounding, face still red, she hurried out of the large chamber, leaving Dalinar and Navani to handle Kaladin’s parents. She waved for Shallan, doing her best to stay composed, and her ward sighed and followed reluctantly.

“Shallan,” Jasnah began, uncertain of where to begin.

“Yes, brightness?” The title was forced. The girl still wasn’t used to being a ward again.

Jasnah let it slide. “Erm. Kaladin’s parents. What do you know about them?”

Shallan frowned. “Nothing. I only met them today. Why?”

Jasnah stared off to the side, stroking her chin in thought. “Hm. His mother. She was...an interesting individual.”

Shallan glanced through the open doorway to where Hesina stood conversing with Dalinar. “I guess? She’s gorgeous, I’ll give her that, though I hate to compliment  _ Kaladin’s _ mom. Didn’t really get to talk much with her, though. Not even sure she…” the redhead trailed off. “Hold on. You’re not…” A smile spread across her lips.

Jasnah felt her heart pound faster. “Not what?” Her composure was slipping.

“Oh, this is priceless!” Shallan laughed. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Jasnah felt her face burn. “You will cease your laughter immediately.”

Shallan paled. “Er...yes, brightness.” Her smile was clearly suppressed.

“I would hardly say I’m  _ in love with her _ ,” Jasnah replied. “But I admit she is rather…”

“Well-endowed?” Shallan supplied.

Jasnah’s eyes drifted to the woman’s bust. She shook her head. “No. I meant, her personality is...charming.”

Shallan shrugged. “If you say so. Why do you bring it up with me?”

Jasnah glanced at her ward. Why  _ had _ she decided to talk with Shallan about this? It had mostly been an instinctual thing, though Jasnah tried more to act on logic than instinct if she could help it. These feelings...they were just, so new. Shallan had experienced them, surely, with Adolin. Perhaps she could give her advice.

_ Advice? _ Part of Jasnah reasoned.  _ Advice with what? Hesina is Kaladin’s mother, and married, no less. There is no future with her. _

“Why don’t you go back in there and talk with her?” Shallan suggested.

“Why?” Jasnah said. “She’s married.”

Shallan rolled her eyes. “Well, for one, Dalinar still wants us to talk with them, and for another, why should that stop you? You do realize most marriages are political, right?”

“Not between  _ darkeyes, _ ” Jasnah retorted.  _ I think. _

Shallan shrugged. “Well, they  _ are _ first nahn. Who’s to say they didn’t marry for politics? At any rate, there’s no harm in just chatting with her. Go on!”

Jasnah rapidly found her face heating up again, but allowed Shallan to gently push her back into the large chamber. Hesina pulled back from Dalinar, their conversation clearly finished, and the woman’s eyes found Jasnah’s. Hesina smiled, radiant and beautiful, and Jasnah felt her brain stop working.

“Queen Jasnah,” Hesina greeted, bowing slightly. “I’m sorry, I forgot to thank you earlier.”

_ Talk, idiot. _ “Y-Yes. Um. For what, exactly?”

“For helping fight those Voidbringers, and for helping my son in the battle,” Hesina replied. “He spoke of your bravery and skill on the battlefield.”

Was that right? Somehow Jasnah suspected the captain had admitted that information reluctantly. “It was only what my duty called of me. No need to thank me.”

Hesina nodded. “I do wish we could talk longer, but I’m afraid Lirin and I need to go and set up our new place of residence. It was a pleasure talking, Your Majesty.” She bowed again, and moved off, waving to Lirin.

Jasnah felt her heart fall as she watched the woman go.  _ This is for the best _ , she told herself.  _ Pursuing her is pointless. You will find no happiness there. _

And so she left the chamber once again, determined to put Hesina from her mind forever.

The village beneath Urithiru was a natural development of such a large population settling in the tower-city. The darkeyes needed a place to stay, to work, to live, and so this village provided a perfect place of residence for them. Situated right at Urithiru’s base, it was enormous, taking up the tower’s entire diameter. Apparently, it had already split according to merchant types or cultures, even spawning a Little Herdaz. An entire city, right below the city which the lighteyes used.

Or, well, mostly lighteyes. Darkeyes of the first nahn were afforded housing inside the tower itself. Hesinah and Lirin were staying on one of the lower floors, apparently, both thanks to their high social standing and connection to Captain Kaladin, one of the Knights Radiant.

Jasnah shook her head as she walked into the village. Now was not the time to be thinking about Hesinah. Had she not said that she was going to forget about her?

“You alright, brightness?”

She blinked, before frowning at a bridgeman. One of the Windrunners, a Herdazian man. “I am fine. Why do you ask?”

He shrugged. “Looked awful lost in thought, there, gon. Try not to think too hard; if you do concentrationspren are like to suffocate you. No worse way to go than that, I tell you. That’s why I try not to think about anything I do.”

Jasnah sighed. “Shallan, did you really have to bring a guard with you?”

The redhead glanced up at her. “Sure. We’re very important lighteyes; that means being protected.”

“We’re also both Radiant.”

Shallan shrugged. “Maybe I just like his company.”

Jasnah narrowed her eyes at her ward. She didn’t like this situation, at all. Shallan had insisted she come with her, saying that she’d discovered important information during one of her spying trips down here. That could still be true, yet Shallan was wily, and tended to be too nosy for her own good. It didn’t help that the redhead refused to divulge the details of what she was bringing Jasnah down here for.

They continued through the village, darkeyes bowing or giving deference as they passed. People whispered about them, now, the Radiants who had defended Thaylen from the Voidbringers. No longer was Jasnah just a heretical princess, she was Queen of Alethkar, and a mythical Radiant of old. People stared, as though they expected her to burst into flame at any moment.

Shallan didn’t seem to notice, nor did the odd Herdazian bridgeman, who was now babbling on about something called chouta. Jasnah didn’t pay him any attention, instead keeping her eyes up and forward. Where were they heading? They passed many merchant shops, and were nearing the north side of the Village. Shallan slowed their pace as they came upon various clothing stores, all for darkeyes, of course. Jasnah frowned as she lead them inside one of them.

“Welcome!” An accented voice came as they entered. A Thaylen shopkeeper gave them a broad grin, his eyebrows swept behind his ears.

“Shallan, what are we doing here?” Jasnah said, a bit of impatience tainting her tone of voice.

Her ward looked up at her, feigning innocence. “What do you mean? I told you, I found out some important information here.”

“At a  _ clothing store _ ?”

Before Shallan could respond, voices met Jasnah’s ears. Familiar voices. She frowned, scanning the shop. In the back, towering above everyone else, a familiar head of lengthy black hair caught her eyes.  _ Kaladin. _ The captain turned, ostensibly hearing them, and paled as he met Jasnah’s gaze. Beside him, Hesinah was looking through shirts.

Jasnah felt her heart drop. She gave Shallan a glare. The redhead just smiled.

“What are you doing here?” Kaladin hissed as he left his mother and strode over.

“I don’t understand,” Shallan said, again feigning innocence. “We’re just doing a bit of shopping.”

“At a darkeyes shop?” Kaladin said.

“Shallan,” Jasnah began, “don’t tell me this was just to set me up with....”

The redhead gave a shrug. “Maybe. Actually, I do have something I’d like to discuss with the bridgeboy. Kaladin, why don’t we speak outside?”

The Windrunner gave her a deadly glare, but reluctantly followed her out of the shop. Jasnah watched them go, tempted to just leave...but likely Shallan would have some backup plan to prevent her from doing so. Jasnah ground her teeth together.  _ That girl… _ It was clear this was a set up, to get her to talk with Hesinah again. Didn’t Shallan see that pursuing a relationship with her was pointless?

“Say, that lass over there looks mighty pretty,” the Herdazian bridgeman observed, eyeing Hesinah, who had yet to notice that her son had left. “If I were of higher social standing, I might try chatting with her.” He gave Jasnah a wink.

“You’re a Radiant; you’re higher than everyone in this village,” Jasnah grumbled. “Did Shallan put you up to this?”

The Herdazian just grinned and winked at her again. “Can’t tell you, brightness. Once a Herdazian agrees to something in confidence, he doesn’t reveal that secret. Code of honor, y’see.”

“Leave me,” Jasnah ordered through her teeth.

“You bet,” he replied with a grin, giving a half salute and waltzing out of the store. Notably, he remained just outside the door, as if guarding it. Jasnah sighed. So she really  _ was _ trapped in here, unless she did something drastic. Would it be worth it to storm out of here? Shallan had lied to her; it wouldn’t be unreasonable. But it also wouldn’t be proper for the queen to be acting improperly.  _ Perhaps I can just wait it out, avoiding Hesinah until-- _

“Brightness!” Hesinah seemed to have finished investigating the shirts. She quickly strode over to Jasnah, giving her a small bow and smiling at her.  _ Storms _ , she was pretty. Jasnah tried to keep herself from blushing, putting on her best neutral expression.

“Hesinah,” she replied, nodding to her. “How are you?”

“I’m quite well,” she replied, still smiling brightly. “Just buying some clothes for Lirin and I. Many of our things back in Hearthstone were destroyed, you see, and now is the first time in a while we’ve had access to proper shops.”

“Ah,” Jasnah said. Small talk...she had never been great at it, unless it concerned a topic which she had great expertise in. Clothes...were not among those. “I must apologize for the destruction of your town. Had I been quicker, I may have prevented the Everstorm from coming at all.”

Hesinah waved a dismissive hand. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, brightness. I’m not about to blame one woman for something like that.”

As she spoke, Jasnah found herself unable to resist studying her features. Her nose, eyes, lips, hair, even her voice all sucked Jasnah in. Hesinah was criminally beautiful, so much so that Jasnah found she hadn’t been listening to what the woman was saying.

There was a lull.  _ Storms. _ What had she said? Jasnah opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Hesinah was talking again. “Brightness, you wouldn’t happen to have any pressing matters to attend to in the next few hours, would you?”

Jasnah blinked. “I don’t believe so, no.”

Hesinah’s expression lit up. “Perfect! Do you want to accompany me back to my room? I’d love to talk further, and I’m sure you would like to hear the firsthand experiences of the darkeyes at the hands of the parshmen.”

Jasnah froze. Accompany Hesinah? To her room?  _ Alone? _ “But...what about Captain Kaladin?”

Hesinah’s eyes drifted past the doors to the shop. “I suspect that Veden brightlady is going to keep my son for some time, yet. Come, let’s!”

_ No. I can’t. _ “It...it wouldn’t be proper. For a queen to be seen cohorting so familiarly with a darkeyes.”

“What’s the problem? I’m first nahn, you know.”

“Yes, but you are still darkeyed.”

Hesinah rolled her eyes, though remained smiling. “It’ll just be for a few hours. Isn’t it good for a queen to be seen interacting with her citizens?”

Normally, Jasnah might have stood her ground, insisting that she couldn’t. Indeed, if this had been an argument with Shallan, Jasnah certainly would have put her foot down. But in this case...Hesinah, somehow, had this odd ability to break down Jasnah’s resolve. She found she almost  _ wanted _ to go with the darkeyed woman, propriety be damned.  _ What’s wrong with me? _

Despite herself, she gave a nod. “Alright. But not for too long.”

Hesinah beamed. “Great! Let’s be off!”

As they left the shop, she looped her arm around Jasnah’s. The queen was unable to hide her blush.


End file.
